German engineers praise Tesla Model 3

Looks like the Tesla Model 3 has piqued the interest of car manufacturers in Germany. A German automaker bought a used model 3 at about four times the regular price of the new Tesla mass-market vehicle, reports Electrek. But there was one important goal behind the purchase: the car company bought the car so they could test its performance and disassemble it.

According to Electrek, the news of the purchase was reported in a German newspaper called Suddeutsche Zeitung. The press briefing said that the car underwent rigorous testing for more than a week before dismantling the vehicle. After their review, German engineers praised Tesla\’s new product.

They had good things to say about the engineering of the car.

“Every subassembly system was put to the test, but the testers were particularly impressed by the power electronics,” says the article by Suddeutsche Zeitung, quoted by Electrek. They then described power electronics as “fully integrated”, “modular”, “easily accessible” and “smart”. The article also states that engineers from other German car manufacturers agreed with their assessment.

There were also compliments on the design of the car. Engineers found that the interior of the vehicle had an attractive minimalist design. Praise for the minimalism of Tesla Model 3 extended to the powertrain.

“There is only one engine at the start, just a front and rear gear, a single pair of driven wheels, a single cooling circuit for the entire system,” they said.

This recognition of the virtues of the Tesla Model 3 contrasts sharply with the assessment made by a Detroit engineering firm that routinely dismounts vehicles for examination. The company\’s CEO, Sandy Munro, says some of the vehicle\’s defects are so severe that it\’s like “a Kia in the \’90s”. As the Inquisitr has already reported, he made these comments in an interview with Autoline Network.

Most of his criticisms focused on the so-called model 3 security flaws. Munro calls Tesla engineers “electronics snobs” because he says they failed to include mechanical failafes for some of the electronic features . He points out that the car has a mechanical lever that is designed to be used to open the car door if the vehicle loses power. But these levers are next to the front seats and not to the rear. In an emergency, rear seat passengers must pull the seats forward to escape the car.

Munro also says that frowning is not easy to open manually, which becomes a problem if the car\’s electrical power is lost in an accident, for example. He goes on to point out that the trunk is heavy too, so it\’s not easy to close it.

A recent accident by the Tesla Model 3 owner may confirm some of Munro\’s concerns. Jalopnik reports that a Reddit user with the username “Model_3_Crash_Dummy” recently destroyed his model 3. Fortunately, he and his passenger were able to get away from the accident, but he noted that the car had problems which were of concern. For example, the tablet controls the glove box but the screen broke during the crash, making access to its insurance documents more difficult. In response to the story, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said they were working on a software update that would automatically open the glove box when Model 3 would suddenly shut down.